Six months after HP absorbed the boutique vendor Voodoo PC, the company sheds some light on its eventual plans

Late last week Hewlett-Packard showcased the fruits of its Voodoo PC acquisition and the HP Labs development team.

"It became clear that there has been
work going on even prior to the Voodoo acquisition and now the wheels
are spinning freely, and things are anything but status quo," said HP Global Gaming Chief Technology Officer and DailyTech Blogger Rahul Sood.

Much of HP's showcase included technology derived from HP Labs projects. HP's Misto project, for example, integrates a 50" touch screen into a coffee table. The interface is designed as a proof-of-concept for gamers, but Sood isn't discounting its usefulness for other applications.

"Well, we have been exploring all types of technologies which pertain to gaming, including handheld, display, interface, and many others. We have enough intellectual property within HP to wallpaper the building," states Sood. "These research scientists within HP Labs are absolute geniuses, they have some interesting projects yet to be unveiled. The interesting thing is many of the projects they are working on are not specific to gaming - we have recognized these areas and the creative juices are flowing."

Voodoo PC built its niche on the no-expense-spared ultra enthusiasts. Although HP is a bit more grounded when it comes to catering to the masses, Voodoo's influence in HP Labs is more than apparent. In particular, HP demonstrated its nine-projector interface capable of displaying images bright enough to see outside in full daylight. HP's interlacing technology has shown up on other projector based projects; at the Consumer Electronics Show last January the company demonstrated its immersive driving simulator using multiple projectors interlaced together.

However, six months after HP's acquisition of Voodoo, the company still has not shipped an official HP-Voodoo collaborated PC yet. HP continues to build Voodoo's boutique PCs, mid-range PCs under the Hewlett-Packard brand and entry level products under the Compaq brand. The company still lacks a direct competitor to Dell's XPS line.

"We recognized that there is a gap between HP and Voodoo – and we believe this gap is significant enough that we need to jump into the sandbox and draw the line. We never said anything about creating a fourth brand but there is indeed speculation."

Sood closes, "As I said at the event in San Francisco, our funnel is full of ideas; you’ll see some new stuff as early as this year."

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This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled

Yes building a pc is easy. My point is if you don't have the basic know how of computers needed to build one then I can hardly see how one can hold your opinion of a computer with any merit.

As someone knowledgeable on the mater I'm saying what I have seen in many reviews (positive and negative) and first hand having a friend that owns one and having serviced a few voodoo pcs there are better alternatives.

I still have yet to read a single review (in other words a unbiased source) that rates the voodoo as having a good value. So far all the reviews you have shown me don't even look a value they just look at the benchmarks and paint job (not really all one should consider when making a purchase).

You say that a voodoo is the equivalent of a Ferrari well if that were the case I should be able to buy all the parts used in a Ferrari and build one my self. You can't though the parts are almost all custom in a Ferrari not the case in a voodoo pc not even close. The only custom parts are the case and paint job. Not to mention there is a crazy amount of engineering and custom design that goes into a Ferrari. Sure voodoo custom engineers the case. But considering the most expensive of similar cases that have also been custom engineered for the enthusiast market cost $800 CND http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.php?PageTag=&pa...why does voodoo get to charge thousand more for theirs?

How is value for money subjective all you do is add up the cost of what goes into what you get and then compare it to what you pay if its a few thousand off than its obvious that something aint right.

Tell me why is a Louis Vuitton bag more valuable than a bag from well.. in the UK - Marks and Spencer. They both do the same thing.

Many people consider LV bags to be a complete waste of money and not value for money - but people still buy them.

Incidentally - I already said that I wasn't getting a paintjob - never mind..

You mentioned that the reviews I showed you "don't even look at value. That's partly the point I've been trying to make! People who buy VoodooPCs at no point mention the word value. I've already acknowledged that it's expensive. Whether it offers value for money or not, is not really something I consider. I just like them!

My opinion has merit in that I OWN a VoodooPC, and have 'first hand' having experienced satisfactory performance and customer support for two and a half years. Not a single hardware component has broken down, and the only reason I'm getting a desktop is for studio expansion.

With your logic - if I make handmade chocolate with all the ingredients required (and it's not difficult to make handmade choclate), does that necessarily mean it's as good as a Godiva/Leonidas chocolate?

I can cook a nice balanced, nutritious meal. I can also goto the Ritz and have a nice balanced nutritious meal at a much higher price.

The added value in these cases is in the presentation and putting together of the product - and using high-end components and trying to make them blend together in a nice way. They are crude examples - but with your logic, you're saying you'd turn down the high-end examples that I've just given.

So, value is subjective, I personally would not goto the Ritz for an over-priced meal. However, I would buy Godiva chocolates.

quote: You mentioned that the reviews I showed you "don't even look at value. That's partly the point I've been trying to make! People who buy Voodoo PCs at no point mention the word value. I've already acknowledged that it's expensive. Whether it offers value for money or not, is not really something I consider. I just like them!

Considering that my initial post was mainly pertaining to value why have you even bothered trying to argue anything when you have just effectively said you have no opinion on the value of a voodoo pc?

quote: My opinion has merit in that I OWN a VoodooPC, and have 'first hand' having experienced satisfactory performance and customer support for two and a half years. Not a single hardware component has broken down, and the only reason I'm getting a desktop is for studio expansion.

It has some merit but you only know that it has worked for you. Seeing as how this is and argument on value this is hardly enough knowledge to accurately judge a voodoo pc to its other competitors (do you have any experience with them.

quote: With your logic - if I make handmade chocolate with all the ingredients required (and it's not difficult to make handmade choclate), does that necessarily mean it's as good as a Godiva/Leonidas chocolate?

You have neglected the work put in to making those chocolates. Years of tinkering and experience to get just the right taste. I have factored this into the building of a voodoo and as I have said the numbers don't add up.

quote: I can cook a nice balanced, nutritious meal. I can also goto the Ritz and have a nice balanced nutritious meal at a much higher price.

Yet again you fail to factor in the experience and capabilities of the chefs making food at the ritz. If we compare the food at the ritz to a comparable alternative we will see a similar price. This is not quite the case with a voodoo pc.

quote: The added value in these cases is in the presentation and putting together of the product - and using high-end components and trying to make them blend together in a nice way. They are crude examples - but with your logic, you're saying you'd turn down the high-end examples that I've just given.

As I have previously shown many others do the same thing yet charge substantially less.

quote: Tell me why is a Louis Vuitton bag more valuable than a bag from well.. in the UK - Marks and Spencer. They both do the same thing.

Ahh yes just like voodoo pcs people waste money on stupid over priced shit. How is this relevant? so there are other examples of bad value to cost ratio in the world how does this change that ratio the very ratio we are supposed to be talking about?

That's your opinion. Tens of thousands of people own LV bags.. If not hundreds of thousands - especially in Japan!

Considering that most people consider Voodoo's engineering work to be of high quality - even the bad reviews say this, well, I can't take your above statements about chocolate and the Ritz seriously.

To put an end to this argument.

Do you honestly think that you could replicate the performance of a VoodooPC, and do the paintjob, and do the custom casing, for less? I'd want to see performance figures, and a high-quality paintjob, or a BAM finish, with the interior looking as neat as the exterior, and of course with the same or better performance numbers as a Voodoo.

Of course, you'll say you can, but there's no way you'll prove it to me.

I know you'll want the last word, but I'm signing off on this argument here.